The Importance of Maintaining Moral Order as it Relates to Hamlet by William Shakespeare's

In addition to the pain Hamlet and John had endured because of their mothers, they both had to overcome the people who intended to use them. For Hamlet this meant suppressing information from the bothersome Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Upon the king’s request these two friends of Hamlet are sent off in an attempt to relieve Hamlet’s sorrow. However Hamlet soon discovers that they have alternative motives. They are strictly set out to discover the cause for Hamlet’s depression and madness, and don’t even attempt to enlighten his spirits.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern also sow the seeds of their own destruction by betraying their lifelong friend. From their point of view of course, they are being loyal to the king. They are faithful, obedient subjects, merely doing services to their king, trying to find out the reason for Hamlet’s madness. To Hamlet however, their willingness to do the King’s bidding is just more evidence of the corruption of the court. He urges them to treat him as a friend, to be loyal to him, to tell him the truth-;’were you not sent for?’ They eventually and reluctantly agree that they were sent for. But this is not the last of it. They continue to do the King’s bidding,

In the beginning of the play, Gertrude hastily marries Claudius once he had come to power as king. It can be assumed that perhaps her marriage with Claudius was purely due to her being driven solely by her feelings and her deep emotional connection with those close to her. Because of this, she often times lives in the moment and does not bother contemplating about the past or future, making her current position to grasp for as much power as she can. Because of this, Hamlet is still infuriated by Gertrude's actions on marrying hebrother-in-law, his uncle, as swiftly as she did. This is seen when Hamlet berates her with insults on how easily she married Claudius just two months after her husband's death. Once Hamlet says “ O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to

     Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two of Hamlets childhood buddies who when asked by the king, try to find out what is troubling their friend. The two of them go to Hamlet pretending to be his friends, when in all actuality they are only there because the king asked them to find the truth. Hamlet realizes their purpose for their visit is to find the real reason for his sadness as of late. As the play continues the twins are asked again by the king to go to Hamlet and try again to find the real reason for Hamlets behavior. Hamlet insults them at every chance knowing they are lying to him about their purpose of the visit. "Tis as easy as lying; govern these

Characters may possess both the ability to intrigue whilst maintaining a commonplace and dry persona, essentially, Hamlet attains the ability to break from his compulsion to abject based on the inept character(s) of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. In retrospect, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the same person as they are sparsely differentiated and never are they seen apart from one another—thus the question remains as to why Shakespeare created such characters based on the same superficial mould. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern prove to be a clever satire of the capacity for human conformity, and of course the entirety of their characters is summed upon their agreement to spy on Hamlet for King Claudius. Therein is revealed the essential flaw of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, their otherwise ‘pack’-mentality.

The fact that Claudius and Gertrude want to get marry so fast leads to different thoughts. Claudius speaks to the royalty and not to the entire castle that includes the lower class because he does not want to raise suspicions. He could have killed King Hamlet, so he would be the maximum authority in the state of Denmark politically, socially, and economically. Gertrude and Claudius might have been lovers in the past and their rise to power has been carefully planned and executed. And Gertrude wants to preserve her power and high position in Denmark.

In the end, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are naively loyal to Hamlet, and this becomes their downfall. They know that Hamlet has killed Polonius, and yet, they take no precautions as they accompany Hamlet to England. Their trust in both Claudius and Hamlet gets them killed. Hamlet’s reveals his mistrust of his schoolmates in a conversation with his mother, and refers to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as, "...my two-school fellows, whom I will trust as adders fanged..." 

Early on in Hamlet, a guard slightly mentions that there is “something rotten in the state of Denmark” (Shakespeare, I.iv.90). The tranquility of Denmark is suddenly shattered by Claudius’s marriage to

Where there is order, there is also chaos. “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (I.V.25), in Hamlet, the beginning of the play depicts chaos through Prince Hamlet meeting the ghost who turns out to be his father’s spirit. This sets up the central conflict in the play in which Hamlet deals with his own madness and inner disturbance. The chaos that derives from the play causes political, social, and family bonds to shatter. Denmark just recently lost its king and Norway’s

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were two characters in the play who were justly punished. These two were supposed to be friends of Hamlet. They turned on him with one simple request from the King. I feel no remorse for them after Hamlet's little scheme. I find it ironic and reflective of their ending when the Ambassador comes and says, ."..Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Where should we have our thanks?" (5,2,411-12) This is somewhat humorous because

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard is a comedy illustrating the concepts of metafiction and absurdism. The two inseparable main characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern often finish each other’s sentences as well as repeat each other’s thoughts and actions. In Hamlet, the two play roles as minor characters fulfilling the king’s biddings, but in their own play, they try to entertain the audience by forging their own path as major characters. However, they cannot maintain any control over plot development causing them to exhibit extreme frustration. In all, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s frustration is caused by their failed attempts at controlling the plot and forcing themselves to be their polar opposite: a major character.

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” (1.4.100). Marcellus, a guard in the opening acts of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, states this short but powerful line to a fellow guard on the castle ramparts. Marcellus’s conversation foreshadows the events to come in the rest of the play and drives its characters into situations that impact more than just themselves in multiple instances. Throughout the play Shakespeare reveals what’s truly ‘rotten”; Murder, spy plots, and incestuous relationships within the noble class plague the small and fragile country of Denmark and forces the rotten characters to a surprising death.

These two men come to the castle under the King’s orders and act as though they are only concerned friends for Hamlet. Claudius asks Hamlet’s childhood friends to watch and associate with Hamlet to see what is bothering him. To this request, Guildenstern replies, “we both obey, / And here give up ourselves in the full bent / To lay our service freely at your feet, / To be commanded.” (Shakespeare 2.2. 29-32) willingly accepting to spy on Hamlet. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are not loyal to Hamlet and tells his secrets to the King and Queen. Hamlet is unaware of this exchange. Rosencrantz says, “He does confess he feels himself distracted, / But from what cause ’a will by no means speak.” (Shakespeare 3.1. 5-6). The King then asks them to “give him a further edge,” (Shakespeare 3.1. 26) to which the men obey. Before Hamlet’s play, Hamlet asks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, “what make you at / Elsinore?” (Shakespeare 275-276), to which Rosencrantz replies, “To visit you, my lord; no other occasion.” (Shakespeare 278). This is a complete lie and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are both false towards Hamlet. The men are

Early on in the play, Shakespeare establishes a tone of decay after Hamlet’s death when Marcellus says, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” (I. iv. 90). These distinctive words continue to be proven time and time again throughout the course of the play. To begin with, Gertrude and Claudius’s incestuous relationship starts up the chain of strange events. Hamlet recalls in a soliloquy “She married. O most wicked speed, to post / With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! / It is not nor it cannot come to good” (I. ii. 156-158). Claudius is supposedly the messenger of God on Earth; however, his actions are that of an immoral and dishonourable man. Gertrude is quick to forget her husband and enters into an incestuous relationship, suggesting

Question: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”. In light of this assertion consider the presentation of the state and its rulers in Hamlet.